1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of child-resistant barriers and in particular to a portable stair barrier intended to prevent very young children from climbing up a stairway by providing a stowable ramp which bridges over one or more stairs when deployed.
2. Prior Art
Known stair barriers consist of various styles of gates defining a vertical wall across the stairway. These have the advantage of being mountable as a barrier at either the top or the bottom of a stairway. Such gates lock into place in front of a top or bottom stair, typically by being expanded between two immovable lateral barrier objects defining an entryway to the stairway, usually the walls which border the stairway on both sides, but also perhaps a banister or the like on posts. Such gates are also sometimes mounted on a vertical hinge.
The disadvantage of the gate type of stair barrier is that the gate cannot be used effectively where the stairway is not bordered by immovable lateral barriers on each side such as walls or banisters. Many stairways are bordered by a wall on one side only, at least for several bottom steps. The side opposite the wall may likewise contain a handrail mounted on posts, but the posts are often unsuitable as supports for the gate, either because of their shape, or more commonly because there are no vertical posts in the location where it is desired to position the gate. The supporting posts are sometimes too widely spaced to prevent access by a child. In this situation the gate type of stair barrier either cannot confidently be used at all, or must be mounted in a less than ideal position, for example far enough above the bottom step as to still allow a substantial fall.
The present invention abandons the concept of a vertical barrier in favor of a slide bridging one or more steps. Inclined slides which mount over a stairway are known as play devices for older children. U.S. Pat. No. 2,270,909--Spizer discloses a child's play slide which grips the stairs directly and does not require immovable borders on each side of the stairway in order to be mounted. U.S. Pat. No. 3,743,281--Gimbel and U.S. Pat. No. 3,796,429--Johnston disclose other variations of children's play slides which are mounted on a stairway.
These slides are intended for recreational use by an older child in sliding down, and are not structured or intended safely to prevent a younger child from climbing up. Therefore, the slides run the full length of the stairway. Although the slides are not permanently attached to the stairway, their length is always enough to bridge a substantial number of stairs, which makes them cumbersome to move. They would normally remain attached to the stairway at all times. In order that the stairway may be used in the normal manner to climb the stairs, the width of the slide is typically limited to a child's body width. The stairway thus remains partially unblocked to allow the children themselves to climb back to the top of the slide and to allow others to use the stairs. Accordingly, these types of slides are not suitable for use as stair barriers to prevent young children from crawling up the stairs.
The present invention provides a stair barrier which can be used on any stairway, whether or not the stairway is between two walls. A slide panel is preferably defined to span two steps such that a small child cannot crawl over the barrier to reach an area of the stairs that can be traversed normally. The barrier is adjustable for stairs of different widths, heights, and depths. It can be quickly removed when there are no children present, and preferably it is foldable to define a one step ramp that adults can step over, and in any event requires minimal storage space.